The 2016 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Sudan targets 4.6 million people of the 5.8 million people in need in Sudan. This decrease of 800,000 people targeted compared to the 2015 HRP, is a result of strict prioritisation that addresses multi-sector or multiple needs, focusing predominantly on levels of vulnerability rather than status. Humanitarian need in Sudan arises primarily due to new displacement, including the displacement of refugees from South Sudan, malnutrition, and food insecurity exacerbated by El Niño. The 2016 HRP appeal is US$952 million, 8 per cent less than the 2015 appeal, reflecting the reduced targeted population and the common approach to prioritisation across sectors.

Objectives

The Humanitarian Country Team seeks to achieve four strategic objectives which are supported by short term and long term programmatic approaches.

The over-arching strategic objective of this HRP is to protect the lives and fundamental well-being of civilians affected by conflict or natural disaster. This objective focuses on the protection of civilians from violence and abuse, particularly by parties to the conflict, and the prevention of further exposure to violence and abuse by promoting full respect for the rights of individuals. People’s needs extend beyond material assistance and require the provision of specific counselling and humanitarian protection activities.

The humanitarian community works in cooperation with the Government of Sudan (GoS) and other partners to ensure that people in need are assisted and supported in line with the fundamental principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence. Through this objective, the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) further commits to fully take into consideration the specific needs of women and men; boys and girls; as well as vulnerable groups such as the elderly, the disabled and the chronically ill. Protection, as a concept, is mainstreamed throughout programmatic interventions.

A cross-cutting strategic objective is to strengthen self-reliance and, for conflict-affected people, facilitate durable solutions, including through integration and voluntary return. For the vast majority of people who have been displaced for over a year, the priority is to deliver relief aid in a more sustainable manner to enhance self-reliance.

In particular, partners in this plan commit to develop emergency programmes in a way that empowers affected people to become more self-reliant, consequently reducing aid dependency, and builds the capacity of national partners.

Humanitarian partners will continue to engage and encourage relevant government and development partners to ensure that humanitarian action is complemented by the development and governance actions that are needed to address the root causes of humanitarian need for those people who have been displaced for over a year.

In the face of recurrent population displacement from within or outside the country, as well as natural disasters, this HRP continues to prioritize life-saving emergency relief to the most vulnerable people affected by conflict and disaster. The emergency relief needs of displaced people, whether from within or outside Sudan, are similar. Saving lives of vulnerable people requires maintaining their food security and livelihoods, attending to the critical needs of acutely malnourished children, ensuring vulnerable people are sheltered from the elements, and providng access to basic services such as water and sanitation, health, humanitarian protection and education. The most vulnerable people (women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities) will need specific support.

The last strategic objective is to reduce food insecurity and malnutrition to below emergency levels across Sudan. This objective is in recognition that, while compounded by conflict and displacement, the food security and malnutrition crises have distinct causes, including socio-economic and climatic factors. These require tailored responses.